Every morning when I wake I do my breathing and mindfulness exercises. It’s a wonderful way of setting my intention for the day and getting my body into a calm and harmonious state. For me there is no better way. I like to teach other people how to do it too.

One of my favourite techniques is “resonant frequency” breathing. It’s a way of breathing that gets you in tune with the basic core natural rhythms of breathing generated in your brain stem. It’s an expansive and connected breath that requires that you really listen to your body. On a mental and emotional level resonance frequency breathing helps to get you out of struggle and fear and into flow. On a physical level resonance frequency breathing makes your body function really efficiently and so it promotes healing and regeneration.

Usually we don’t breathe at our “resonance” frequency but this breathing is wired into us and is always there waiting for us to come back to it. Day to day we usually breathe in response the dictates of our thoughts and feelings. We breathe in response to the challenges of our day and the accumulated stresses of yesterday and sometimes last year. Resonance frequency breathing is the breathing of deep rest, healing and connection. The resonance frequency connects the rhythms and oscillations of breathing with other systems in our body. Oscillations are the rhythm of life, they occur in most body functions e.g. heart, cellular metabolism, nerve activity. Effective communication between our oscillators is essential for the stable functioning of our bodies. Resonance frequency effectively connects our breathing rhythms with other systems, cells and organs. On an emotional level it feels like it connects us with ourselves.

If you want to optimise the calming and healing effects of slow, regular, gentle breathing you need to find and breathe at your personal “resonance” frequency. The rewards of doing this regularly are improved health and reduced stress. Over time you can also train yourself to quickly turn off an unhelpful stress response.

Many people have experienced the profoundly calming effects of breathing slowly, regularly and gently into their belly. This calm feeling comes about because slow breathing changes your nervous system function. It dampens the stress response by activating the vagus nerve a key nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system. It also promotes the release of a neurotransmitter, called GABA which calms the brain.

But it gets better. Research has shown that the healing and calming effects of slow breathing are greatly amplified when people can identify and breathe at their own unique “resonance” frequency. This for almost all people means breathing breathe at somewhere around 3-7 breaths per minute. At the “resonance” frequency a person’s breathing becomes coherent with other body systems enabling the body to function harmoniously and efficiently. Resonant and coherent states are usually experienced as a sense of wellbeing and calm energy but they do more than make you feel good. They promote optimal mental, emotional and physical functioning.

There is a growing body of research showing that regular practice of resonance frequency breathing reduces pain, anxiety, depression. It normalises blood pressure in people with hypertension and improves lung function in people with asthma and COPD. It’s been found to be helpful for fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome. Just a few minutes of resonance frequency breathing can counter the effects of stress in the nervous system.

Through the ages people have used the power of the resonance frequency breathing to uplift, restore and calm themselves. Rosary prayer, many mantra and chants and long poems written in hexameter verse, like Homers Iliad, promote breathing at about 5-6 breaths per minute which is the average resonance frequency for most people.

Resonance frequency breathing is particularly effective when you train yourself to activate the positive emotional states such as gratitude, empathy and compassion.

How to find your resonance frequency of breathing

You can find your own personal resonance frequency using software like the emwave or stress eraser which measures the extent to which the variability of your heart rate synchronises with your breathing. However you don’t have to have to use computer, it is possible to get a close enough to your resonance frequency to achieve a great deal of benefit by following these steps:-

· Set your intention to relax, and focus your attention on your breathing

· Observe where the breathing motion is happening in your body-upper chest and shoulder or lower rib cage and belly.